Home Runs Key 10-6 Victory over JetHawks
August 13, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
LANCASTER, CA - The Giants smacked three home runs and every player in the lineup had at least one hit en route to a 10-6 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Friday evening at The Hangar. San Jose (61-57) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings and then held off Lancaster's comeback attempt to secure the series-opening win.
Dylan Davis (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) homered as part of a three-hit night to lead the Giants offensive attack. Ty Ross (1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) added a key three-run home run while Miguel Gomez (1-for-5, HR, RBI) also went deep for San Jose. Rando Moreno (3-for-4, 2B), Ronnie Jebavy (2-for-5) and Robbie Garvey (2-for-5) chipped in with multi-hit games. The Giants finished with 15 hits.
Conner Menez (1-0) earned his first California League win after tossing five-plus innings with two runs (both earned) allowed. Menez, who took a shutout into the sixth, surrendered five hits, walked two and struck out two during his outing.
San Jose took an early 3-0 lead in the contest with a three-run top of the first inning. Moreno got the rally started with a one-out double down the right field line. Davis then launched a 3-2 pitch from JetHawks starter Jose Hernandez over the fence in deep right center for a two-run home run. The rally continued when Jonah Arenado followed the homer with a single. Then with two down, Gomez's line drive to deep right was misplayed by Lancaster's Drew Ferguson for an error. The miscue allowed Arenado to score all the way from first with the third run of the frame.
The Giants kept the pressure on with a run in the top of the third. Mitch Delfino singled with one out before Gomez's potential double play grounder was botched by second baseman Aaron Mizell for an error. T.J. Bennett followed with a sharp single up the middle plating Delfino to make it 4-0.
San Jose then extended their lead with two more runs in the fourth. Singles from Garvey and Moreno put runners on first and second with one out. Davis then blasted a high fly ball off the fence in deep left center for a double to score Garvey. Arenado followed with a sacrifice fly as Moreno came home to push the advantage to 6-0.
Gomez made the score 7-0 when he crushed a solo home run to right in the top of the fifth.
Meanwhile, Menez began his start with five scoreless innings. The left-hander, who was making just his third appearance (second start) with the Giants, retired seven out of the first eight batters he faced. Menez pitched around a one-out single in the bottom of the third and a two-out single in the fourth to keep the JetHawks off the board. In the fifth, Menez walked the first two batters of the inning, but responded by setting down the next three hitters to get out of the inning.
Lancaster finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth as Ferguson led off with a double before Bryan Muniz stepped to the plate and belted a two-run home run to left center. The round-tripper, which cut the San Jose lead to 7-2, ended Menez's night. Dusten Knight was summoned from the bullpen and he promptly set down the following three hitters to retire the side.
The JetHawks further cut into the Giants advantage when Christian Correa and Mizell began the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back home runs off of Knight (1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO). The consecutive long balls brought the margin to 7-4. Johnny Sewald then walked before Knight struck out Osvaldo Duarte for the first out. Ferguson followed with a line drive single down the left field line, but Garvey threw out Sewald at third on the play for the second out of the inning. Muniz though delivered a double into the right center gap to plate Ferguson bringing Lancaster to within 7-5. D.J. Snelten was then called into pitch with the potential tying run at the plate and he struck out Trent Woodward to end the inning.
With San Jose still ahead by two runs, Snelten (1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO) returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth. He quickly set down the first batters, but then issued consecutive walks to Correa and Mizell bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. The left-handed reliever though induced Sewald to groundout to second to halt the threat.
The Giants then retook control of the game with a three-run top of the ninth. With one out, Delfino walked before Gomez fanned. Bennett then struck out, but reached first safely on a wild pitch to extend the inning. Ross was up next and he hammered a fly ball over the fence in right center for an opposite-field three-run homer. The home run, Ross' third of the year, extended the lead to 10-5.
Jeff Soptic (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) pitched the bottom of the ninth and allowed one run as Duarte led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a passed ball. Then with two down, Woodward singled and Ritchie walked, but with the potential tying run in the on deck circle, Soptic retired Jason Martin on a pop out to third ending the game.
Hernandez (1-3) suffered the loss for the JetHawks after yielding seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits over five innings. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.
Notes - * Friday was the opener of a seven-game road trip for the Giants. * San Jose scored in double figures for the first time since a 13-6 win against Inland Empire on July 21. * Davis has homered in back-to-back games. He has 11 home runs in 42 games overall with the Giants this season. * San Jose out-hit Lancaster 15-11. * Menez was making just the fifth start of his professional career. * The Giants won for the first time in five games at The Hangar this season. * Arenado (1-for-4, RBI) extended his hitting streak to nine games. * Snelten owns a 1.17 ERA (3 ER/23.0 IP) as a reliever this year (17 appearances). * San Jose has won three straight road games for the first time since May 22-24. * The Giants improved to 22-26 in the second half and remained four games behind Bakersfield (26-22) for the top spot in the second half North Division race.
On Deck: The Giants and JetHawks continue their three-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at The Hangar scheduled for 6:05 PM. Mark Reyes (8-6, 4.50 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Brock Dykxhoorn (7-4, 5.73 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 5:35 PM.
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